主播大秀

Hi, I’m Katie and I’m 21 years old. I’m the Broadcast Operator Apprentice based in Media City and I started in September 2019. I’ve wanted to work behind the scenes for the 主播大秀 for as long as I can remember. I heard about the Apprenticeship scheme through 主播大秀 Get In. I wasn’t successful with my first application and so went to university instead but I didn’t enjoy sitting in lectures all day; I prefer to learn on the job and the apprenticeship means you get to study for qualifications at the same time. I made the big decision to leave university and reapply to the scheme and second time around I got in!

My first few weeks on the scheme were spent with the seven other apprentices from all over the UK. We had an introduction week in Birmingham and then it was off to Wood Norton, the 主播大秀 training centre for two weeks before starting our placements. I couldn’t wait to get started. The two weeks flew by; we had a number of introductory talks including an overview of our Broadcast Operator Apprenticeship course and a studio tour followed by a safety briefing. Thereafter, the focus was learning the basics of vision and audio fundamentals and camera foundations.

Arriving in Media City for my first day on placement was daunting but my new colleagues were extremely welcoming and took a lot of time and effort introducing me to the equipment and the differing roles. At the beginning of my second week, I recalled some advice from one of the Wood Norton trainers on how to get the best from a placement so I asked my line manager if it would be possible to go on an Outside Broadcast. I was allowed to accompany the team to Bishop Auckland to work on the 主播大秀 Breakfast’s election coverage. I was determined to make myself useful and learn as much as possible. I helped rig the sound and lighting equipment and cable bashed for the programmes live broadcast. My hard work and initiative paid off because I was asked to go on a second OB at the end of that week: this time it was off to Port Sunlight with the 主播大秀 Children in Need team. I assisted the camera and lighting teams with rigging and I cable bashed again for the live programme.

Shortly after, I accompanied the team to another OB to Norwich where I was given the role of sound assistant and helped set up the equipment, including the four wired microphones on the famous red sofa. I also mic-ed up the guests during the live programme - this had to be done during the VTs so there were some extremely quick turn arounds - fantastic experience for an apprentice learning to work calmly in a pressurised situation. I wrote a blog about my first few months on the Broadcast Operator scheme to encourage others to apply for Apprenticeships and it was published on the 主播大秀 Get In website and Twitter. Then it was back on the road with the 主播大秀 Breakfast team for the last election OB at the Crewe Heritage Centre. I was given the role of sound assistant again with the responsibility of setting up the stage box, PA system, red sofa’s fixed line microphones and the twelve wired microphones for the panel guests. I mic-ed up the presenters and sofa guests for the programme and took the helical transmitter, plugged into the IEM receivers, out of the warehouse when the presenter moved location.

Just before the Christmas break, I was allowed to operate one of the cameras for the 主播大秀 Music Introducing recording for the first time. I also sound assisted for the North West Tonight Christmas OB. I met up with the rest of my cohort in London one weekend. Despite being spread across the country we keep in regular contact and support each other.

The new year meant a new placement. I shadowed the sound operator and spent time familiarising myself with the sound desk and practicing the headlines and promos with the director using an old recording from a previous news bulletin. This included switching from the network sound effects to our regional programme bed, ensuring the transition is smooth and in time - I’m now fixated with this when I’m watching television at home!

I love working in News because you just don’t know what’s going to happen next – like finding myself in Number 10 Downing Street in the middle of January sound assisting for a 主播大秀 Breakfast live interview with Boris Johnson. We travelled down the day before and spent the evening rigging and testing the equipment. I learnt so much on this OB because the team took time to train me. Even though it was a pressurised situation, I took note of how calm they all were. I set up the two lapel microphones for Dan Walker, the presenter and two for the Prime Minister, for back up in case one went down. I helped rig the wired microphones on to the interview seats by running an XLR cable from the sound desk. I also back-watched for the camera operator to make sure he didn’t fall over and cable bashed for him during the live programme. The highlight of the OB has to be meeting the man himself - Larry, the cat! It was also a bit surreal being allowed to walk up the famous staircase with all the portraits of past prime ministers – I noticed Theresa May’s portrait wasn’t on the wall yet. All in all, an amazing experience.

On Brexit day, January 31st, the assistant editor put me on rota to sound assist for the OB in Lancaster for North West Tonight. My first job of the day was to set up the radio frequency antennas for the microphones packs and to sync each pack with the hired Ofcom frequency. My next task was setting up the ring talkback for the camera crew by placing the Canford loudspeaker station and powerbox into the broadcast satellite truck (Vsat) allowing the director to speak to the crew. It was freezing, dark and miserably wet but I had a great day!

At the beginning of February, an unexpected opportunity arose when I was shadowing the LAV operator on Breakfast. There was an issue with Camera 2’s focus limit under the Shokotu (robotic camera) control during the 主播大秀 Breakfast live programme and the LAV operator had to put it into manual mode. I plucked up the courage to ask if I could take the role of Camera 2 operator in the studio and he agreed. I remembered everything I had been taught so far: I made sure the camera was fully focused by zooming into the presenter’s eyes and out again; I then framed the shots so there would be the correct amount of headroom and looking room. Surprisingly, I wasn’t at all nervous and the team were really pleased because they were able to get all the shots they wanted for the programme. Later that week, I volunteered at the 主播大秀 Academy stall at a Stem event at Manchester University. I was part of a team that included two of the tutors from Wood Norton training centre and three Engineering trainees. We talked to school groups about our training with the 主播大秀 and showed them how to operate some studio equipment. It was a fun day.

The next week I shadowed the North West edit team learning the basic skills, such as, fast reviewing rushes and blurring out car registration plates. I was very pleased to see my first edited clip played out on our regional segment during 主播大秀 Breakfast. I was also put on my first rota shifts as Sound Floor on 主播大秀 Breakfast. I had practice runs for the first 3 days of the week and then I worked independently on the Thursday and Friday. I followed the running order closely for the programme duration as I was responsible for mic-ing up the guests and making sure they were relaxed and ready to go on in time. I let the sound supervisor know which microphone each guest was on so he’d know which channel to fade up on the sound desk. I quickly changed one of the guests’ microphones after the gallery informed me of cable interference just minutes before we were due on air. And I’m glad to say that I managed to remain calm when one of the high profile guests of that week arrived very late and I’d only a minute to mic him up.

Covid 19 and lockdown meant I was unable to be in the office for a number of weeks but I used the time to complete college work at home. I was able to return the first week in June to shadow the floor manager on Breakfast so I could cover any last minute shifts if a colleague fell sick. I also shadowed studio cameras on Breakfast. My training was focused on operating the jib camera for the programmes opening and closing shots. The camera operator allowed me to operate live on air and I was able to do the eight o’clock headline shots during the second week.

I was given my first two solo shifts covering illness as Floor Manager for Breakfast in July. I got to know the presenters who were on that week better; Naga, Dan and Charlie were very supportive and I enjoyed the studio banter and the welcoming atmosphere of all the team. I’m glad to report that all went smoothly – well, apart from nearly spilling hot coffee over Naga (she was very gracious about it). And then there was the issue of the broken printers on both mornings! I had to find a slot in the running order to allow sufficient time for repairs. Outwardly, I was perfectly calm but internally, the recurrent image of the IT man going out live was flashing in front of me – that could have been my ruination before I even got started! Other than those minor hiccups (ahem), I thoroughly enjoyed keeping the studio organised and prioritising the various jobs such as printing out regular scripts, assisting the camera operator with moving camera 5 and hunting for the all important biscuits, of course. Hopefully, I’ll get to cover more shifts soon so I can develop my confidence when counting the presenters in and when I’m speaking to the gallery. More experience will also mean I won’t be knocked off kilter when there are changes, for instance, where did Sean, the business presenter come from? Due to Covid 19 restrictions, he hadn’t been in the studio when I was doing my training. Afterwards, I posted about my morning on Twitter. It received a lot of attention after Naga and Dan both made supportive comments and 主播大秀’s Political Editor, Laura Kuenssberg sent me a personal congratulatory message! Sorry, Larry the cat but that has to be the highlight of my year!

My first solo shift working on Newswire and floor managing North West Tonight happened in July. I set up my first down-the-line interview with Gabby Logan for the Breakfast production team. This meant routing the vision and audio on the BNCS panel to a voiceover booth so the journalist could interview the guest via video call in accordance with COVID distancing rules. I also had the opportunity to shadow the 主播大秀 Sports gallery team on a Match of the Day submix.

It’s August and I’m nearly a year into my apprenticeship despite challenging times. I’ve two weeks of online college work from home now instead of studying with the rest of my cohort in London. I appreciate the opportunities I get with the 主播大秀 more than ever now given the current unemployment forecasts for people my age. I’m so glad I applied for this apprenticeship and I consider myself very lucky indeed to be training for an exciting, interesting and worthwhile job.